Chris Wallace Ignores James O’Keefe’s Dodgy Past While Pimping Him As The ‘Power Player Of The Week’

Right-wing activist James O’Keefe recently released a video showing how he deceived NPR fundraisers into thinking they were having a discussion with members of a Muslim non-profit organization. One of the fundraisers was caught criticizing Republicans and the Tea Party and NPR CEO Vivian Schiller subsequently resigned.

Apart from the fact that O’Keefe’s past work suggests the media shouldn’t take his work too seriously, some, including Glenn Beck’s website The Blaze, have recentlypointed out “questionable editing and tactics” in O’Keefe’s latest NPR video. Nevertheless, on Fox News Sunday today, host Chris Wallace, once again, made O’Keefe his “Power Player of the Week.” And in this segment, Wallace completely glossed over O’Keefe’s lack of credibility. The Fox host only mentioned one of his “problems” — having pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor for trying to break in to Sen. Mary Landrieu’s (D-LA) office:

WALLACE: There’s no debating that undercover activist James O’Keefe has taken on some big targets and come up with some stunning results. Once again, he’s our power player of the week. […]
O’Keefe has had problems. Last May he pleaded guilty to a misdameanor for posing as a phone repairman to get into Sen. Mary Landrieu’s office. But now he has a new scalp. The head of NPR was forced out in this latest scandal.

Media Matters has the clip:

Wallace even highlighted O’Keefe’s deceptive video work that eventually brought down ACORN, but he didn’t note that ACORN has been cleared of any criminal wrongdoing as a result from O’Keefe’s tapes. Moreover, as Media Matters notes, “a 2009 report by the Congressional Research Service stated that O’Keefe’s surreptitious videotaping may have broken laws in California and Maryland.”

And of course Wallace omitted O’Keefe’s plan to “seduce” and publicly humiliate CNN reporter Abbie Bourdeau aboard a boat full of sex toys. Bourdeau caught on to the scam and reported that “O’Keefe planned to lure her aboard a boat where he would secretly record his attempts to ‘hit on her’ using ‘strawberries and champagne.’ Boudreau reported that a document she obtained suggested O’Keefe would also use props including a ‘condom jar,’ Viagra, pornography, a ceiling mirror, and ‘fuzzy handcuffs.’”